Shelly Heideman, executive director of the Springfield-based Faith Coalition for the Common Good, said the rally was meant to raise awareness of a problem that has long been boiling over.

“We’ve met with our representatives in Congress, and they’ve agreed that something needs to be done,” Heideman says. “What that change looks like has not been determined yet.”

One rally attendee named Martin, who declined to give his last name, says he brought his son Mauro, 10, to help spread the message that immigrants, legal or not, come to the United States to seek a better life.

“It’s important because the families are divided; they have no rights,” Martin said. “We need changes because immigrants are not criminals.”